The field of this invention is geographic location referencing system.
A geographic location system has an addressing scheme that allows a point or place to be uniquely identified. An address may be in the form of a numeric, alpha, or numeric and alpha code, a name, or a combination of a name and a code. A place is a particular portion of space, in this case Earth, whether of definite or indefinite extent. There are several commonly known address referencing systems used today that identify a location as either a specific point or an area that has both breadth and width. These addressing schemes may be categorized as: 1) Geodetic based, 2) Earth feature based, 3) Politically based, and 4) Application based. Almost all schemes use some type of systematic method, which may not be orderly, to identify a location; be it navigation, surveying, map making, neighborhood planning and zoning, market analysis, mail delivery, or census taking.
The following geodetic based identification systems are in use around the world. One of the oldest systematic methods of location is based upon the geographic coordinate system (Polar coordinates), of latitude and longitude, which is the foundation of other global and local systems used to identify or locate points or places on Earth. The most common systems in use today are actually a projection of a curved surface onto a flat plane. The Universal Transverse Mercator Grid (UTM) has been, as its name implies, imposed on the Transverse Mercator Projection. Another grid system imposed on the areas represented by the Polar Stereographic Projection is called the Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS) Grid.
The U.S. Army Military Grid Reference System is designed for use with the UTM and UPS Grids. The USAF uses a system that operates in conjunction with any map that has latitude and longitude printed on it; known as the World Geographic Reference System. The dimensions and orientation of different types of grids vary, but three properties are common to all military and civilian grid systems: 1) they are true rectangular grids; 2) they are superimposed on the geographic projection; and 3) they permit linear and angular measurement. The major goal of these systems is to: 1) reduce the length of written coordinates by substituting, in some instances, single letters for several numbers, and 2) eliminate ambiguity so no two places on Earth would have the same identifier. To accomplish this, most grid systems establish a false origin and employ the principles of northing and easting. Although these systems are known to be reliable and precise, and effective for those skilled in their use, they are too complex for many common applications useful in today""s society. Their principles can be transferred to everyday use, however.
Another grid system, the State Plane-Coordinate system provides individual states the opportunity of creating local grid systems to match the size and shape of each state while at the same time being tied to the World Geodetic system. This network of zones may support control points for surveying purposes, it doesn""t however, appear to provide the ideal alignment needs required for adequately cataloging and identifying places.
A more recently designed grid system, used by amateur radio clubs, can be found in the Maidenhead Locator System. This system is also based on geodesy, which requires tables for degrees and minutes conversion to grid square addresses. The granularity of this system limits the types of applications that can be adapted to this addressing scheme.
Another type of geographic reference system, one that may be classified as application based, and commonly known as a reference frame, has been devised by mapmakers for use with maps. A reference frame is the grid system usually identified by letters and numbers displayed along the edges of a map to assist map users locate information and maintain proper orientation. Local maps for the continental United States, its cities, and states are available from map makers such as, Rand McNally, National Geographic, Thomas Brothers, Trimble Atlas, H. M. Gousha, etc., as well as Major Oil Companies where the reference frame (coordinate addresses) and scale is different for each. These maps usually include an index and guide marks to aid the map user locate the desired information. Although the reference frame is of general purpose, the guide marks consisting of letters and numbers, are usually different from one map to the next. Accordingly, the map users are required to consult the map index to acclimate themselves with each map. The specific coordinate addresses identified by the guide marks are usually unique to each map and can not be used to locate information on a map provided by a different map maker. Also, if the scale of the map is changed the reference frame guides (coordinate addresses), are no longer of any use, i.e. a new set of guides must be developed.
An exception to the above generalization can be found on several maps of Arizona produced by the Phoenix Mapping Service since 1974, the Salt River Project, and the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale. The reference frame used on Phoenix Mapping Service maps considers the entire State of Arizona whereby the origin of the grid is positioned at the most northwesterly point of the state and propagates outward in a southerly and easterly direction. Letters of the alphabet are used along the y-axis, while numbers are used along the x-axis. Each grid represents, for the most part, a section of land approximately one mile square. The use of letters along the y-axis requires repeating the alphabet by expanding the number of letters used, such as A, B, C . . . , AA, AB, AC . . . , BA, BB, BC . . . , etc. until all grids have been assigned an address. Their system, while providing a unique address for each grid is limited because of the size of each grid (one mile square), but primarily, because of the use of letters as an axis address and the downward expansion from the origin of the grid. Likewise, moving down or south from the origin is not as intuitive as moving north.
The Salt River Project""s map grid maintains the cardinal points where each one-mile section is numbered moving outward, in all directions, from the point of origin. Both the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale have devised their own numbering schemes whereby each one-half mile area has an address consisting of a number assigned to each axis of a county level coordinate system. Neither of these systems provides the capability of identifying quarter section of land beyond their particular political subdivisions.
There are some address reference systems that are application or politically based, which are not implemented with a coordinate system. These include Zip (Zone Improvement Plan) Codes, Assessor map areas, and zoning districts. Also, service and tabulation areas such as, Census Tracts and Blocks, Enumeration districts, Congressional Districts (CDs) and other voting districts, A. C. Nielsen""s Designated Market Areas (DMAs), Basic Trading Areas (BTAs) and Market Trading Areas by Rand McNally, and Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), too name a few. These systems although useful for their intended purpose, do not provide scaling, stability, order, transferability or simplicity. While some are more stable than others, all of the mentioned systems from Zip Codes to MSAs, are subject to boundary changes over time. None of these systems are based on a common geographical unit and, as such, impose insurmountable obstacles when translation of data from one reference system too another is desired.
Patents for Jones, U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,524, and Hancock, et al., U.S. Pat Nos. 6,047,236 and 5,839,088 are local referencing systems that do not have a constant stable perimeter boundary for each geographical area. Consequently, tabulations or tabulation comparisons with other geographical areas is generally difficult, if not impossible. Also, map referencing is blurred due to the arbitrariness of location addresses. Another problem with Hancock, is the level of complexity inherent in such a system, which may in fact, make it unavailable to major segments of our society. Pfuetze, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,275,568 and 5,362,239 when used in accordance with its intended purpose, is a vast improvement over current reference frame systems currently in use today. However, the major difficulty is that it doesn""t provide a fixed address for geographic places. Craport, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,572 depends entirely on the geodetic system and relies on other address referencing systems to carry out point identification.
Geographic locations are, for the most part, fixed in space, i.e., anchored on Earth, and should be capable of being identified with a permanent address. What changes over time are, assumptions as to the shape of the Earth, the earth""s magnetic force, and also, the technology used to measure and locate points on Earth. However, local addresses are capable of being referenced from local control points that do not change over time. The Public Land Survey System (PLSS), commonly known as the Township and Range (T/R) system is a system that is based on local control points. It is a complex system that can only be used by individuals who fully understand the rules for the identification and subdivision of large tracts of platted land or those skilled in the art of surveying. In addition, the addressing scheme used is lengthy and cumbersome, and requires a complex string of characters to specify the precise location of various sized tracts of land. As such, both manual and automated (computerized) processing of this legal description is an arduous, if not impossible task, which limits the functionality of the current method of referencing geographic locations. However, unbeknownst to most individuals, the T/R is one of the most important geographic location reference systems used in the United States, today. The federal government established the system in 1785 and, in spite of some obvious limitations, it is still used extensively by governmental, and public and private entities. Property tax agencies, utility companies, surveyors, planning departments, highway departments, real estate organizations, title companies, and private citizens are some of the entities that rely heavily on the T/R system.
One feature that is generally not used to advantage in the T/R system is the almost uniform dimension of quarter sections of land which is a half-mile square. Although tax assessors, utility companies, cities, counties, and state agencies, as well as public and private entities have certainly capitalized on this feature, they have not done so on a cooperative basis, everyone seems to do their own thing. In support of this fact, on Apr. 11, 1994, at the recommendations of the National Performance Review, President Clinton signed Executive Order 12906 to set in motion an effort to develop a coordinated National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The order is designed to foster greater cooperation in generating and sharing geospatial data between Federal, State, local and tribal governments, and the private sector. As defined in the President""s order, an NSDI is the, technology, policies, standards, and human resources necessary to acquire, process, store, distribute, and improve utilization of geospatial data. The President assigned to the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) the task of bringing NSDI about. The National Performance Review""s recommendation acknowledges or confirms the need for a system for sharing geospatial type information. The following list excerpted from the Committee""s, January 1998 publication, is further support for the need for an integrated geospatial system.
Toward An NSDI Ideal 1) There is a common spatial data foundation organized according to widely accepted layers and scales (or resolution) that is available for the entire area of geographic coverage (parcel, neighborhood, city, county, state, nation, etc.) to which other geospatial data can be easily referenced. 2) The foundation data is readily accessible and available at no or little cost from user-friendly and seamless sources to meet public needs and encourage conformance with it by producers of other geospatial data. 3) Both foundation and other geospatial data, as required and specified cooperatively by data producers and users, is updated according to commonly accepted standards and measures of quality. 4) Thematic and tabular data are also available on terms not incompatible with the foundation data. 5) When cost-effective, geospatial data produced by one organization, political jurisdiction, or nation is compatible with similar data produced by other organizations, political jurisdictions or nations. 6) Geospatial data can be integrated with many other kinds or sets of data to produce information useful for decision-makers and the public, when appropriate. 7) Responsibility for generating, maintaining, and distributing the data is widely shared by different levels of government and the private sector. Governments take advantage of private-sector capabilities available at reasonable prices rather than maintaining dedicated capabilities. 8) The cost of generating, maintaining, and distributing such data are justified in terms of public benefits and/or private gains; overlap and duplication among participating organizations is avoided wherever possible.
The overall uniformity of the T/R system could be used to benefit the general public on an everyday basis. Quarter sections are 260-acre ({fraction (1/2)} mile square) places where, people go too work and play, from one end of a state to the other, day in and day out. The following questions are not intended to be all-inclusive but rather illustrative, of the more common questions that frequently need to be answered by individuals (many of these questions and statements can be rephrased using the word place or locality for quarter section). 1) In which quarter section is a particular property situated? 2) Identify all properties located in a particular quarter section. 3) In which quarter section am I currently standing? 4) Where are the boundaries for a particular quarter section? 5) What is the area of a particular quarter section? 6) What are the physical features of a particular quarter section? 7) What utilities (gas, water, sewer, electric, communication lines, (telephone, cable, fiber optic, etc.) etc.) are available to a particular quarter section and where are they located? 8) What is the predominate use-classification of this particular quarter section? 9) Is this quarter section inhabited, if so, what is the population? 10) What is the frequency of incidence occurring in this particular quarter section? 11) Where is a particular quarter section situated? 12) What streets are situated in a particular quarter section? 13) In which quarter section(s) is this street situated? 14) In what part of the state, county, city, etc., is this quarter section situated?
Not all of the above questions would be relevant to each governmental unit, nor to every public or private entity. It is expected, that each entity will strive to satisfy their own particular needs by devising systems that are specific or adequate for their purpose. Seldom will these same systems solve another entities needs, however. The major emphasis here is, that all entities need the capability to communicate about a specific geographical area using a simple system of local coordinate addresses. Geographical areas, for the most part, remain fixed and should be capable of being identified using a simple, yet precise, address. Thus, what is needed is a referencing system that is concise, and intuitive, that can be used with a minimum amount of reading and searching, and at the same time assists in establishing permanent markers that can aid human spatial cognition.
Aside from some maps created by governmental agencies, the reference frame tick marks commonly found on consumer maps, are usually arbitrarily selected and seldom tied to permanent markers or control points set down on Earth. In reality, there should be a direct correlation between tick marks on a map and permanent address assigned to the specific geographical area. Further, a superior addressing scheme will enable both manual and automated processing of geospatial data by persons who are unskilled in the use of location referencing systems. In addition, a well-designed addressing method can support spatial cognition by assisting in location orientation and at the same time support the collection of geospatial data. Of the systems reviewed, only the PLSS posses the necessary elements for providing the foundation for a simple yet, robust geographic reference system.
The present invention relates generally to the codification of the coordinate system of Base Lines and Principal Meridians by developing and using a location referencing method to create proprietary addresses for the identification of locations associated with an established geographic information system, i.e., U.S. Public Land Survey System (PLSS). The invention is directed to a system and method for identifying a geographic area, within a geographic region using location addresses (locality identifiers), representing (x, y) coordinates in a rectangular grid. The location referencing method employs an orderly referencing scheme to assign local addresses that retain a known relationship with a regional and global referencing system. Said method may be equated to indexing or codification of known geographic locations. Accordingly, each location is identified by a set of coordinates that represent a particular quarter section of land in the PLSS.
Therefore, the object of this invention is to create a geographic location referencing system that will satisfy the following objectives. First, cardinal points are not to be part of the referencing address. Second, the same address must function as a tabulation identifier for the geographic location. And third, the addresses for adjacent locations must be capable of being determined intuitively, without the aid of maps.
A major feature of the PLSS, commonly known as the Township and Range (T/R) system is its geographical reliability to unambiguously identify the location of property within a region or state. A caveat for monuments that have been lost or destroyed as well as errors in surveys and legal descriptions is acknowledged. This invention relates specifically to a system and method that identifies the relative location of quarter sections as they relate to other quarter sections in a statewide grid system. Another feature of the T/R system is the grid structure that has provided for the orderly layout and expansion of a number of the cities in the western United State. Although the grid street pattern is common in many cities throughout the continental U.S., it seems only those cities where the T/R system is in place, show an unmistakable orderly framework of arterial streets running north and south, and east and west along quarter section lines. This is a feature that is used to advantage through the implementation of a local coordinated reference system of static geographic addresses.
According to the first, separate aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system and method for assigning unique location addresses to defined geographic places known as or would be known as quarter sections within the aforementioned (PLSS) rectangular survey system in the United States. In order to provide continuity, location address sequencing will continue, when feasible, for all U.S. states and, addresses will be assigned in instances where geographic areas have not been surveyed or surveying is incomplete.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the aforesaid location addresses are known broadly as, Locality ID(trademark)(s) or individually as a Locality ID∩ (trademark term owned by inventor). The addresses identify geographic areas defined as quarter sections in the system of townships and ranges (T/R). Each Locality ID(trademark) represents, for the most part, a common geographical unit. The advantage to using Locality ID(trademark)(s) is that they are tied to permanent control points (quarter section monuments), and are, 1) open ended, 2) unique, 3) orderly, 4) compact, 5) easy to recall, and 6) represent or identify, for the most part, orthogonal tracks of land (exceptions have been noted). In short, the Locality ID(trademark) is designed to combine stability and simplicity with the use of a familiar reference frame.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, a separate and distinct grid is defined for each U.S. State representing each of the separate Principal Meridians and Base Lines, which is identified, by the two-character state abbreviation prefix to a pair of positive whole number coordinates.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an alphanumeric geographic location-identification numbering system incorporating a character set having an alphabetical prefix, followed by a sequence of whole numbers wherein each whole number represents a coordinate in a particular grid identified by the alphabetic prefix.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided systems and methods for the conversion of quarter section, township and range descriptions to the herein-defined Locality ID(trademark)(s) and also to convert a particular Locality ID(trademark) to its corresponding quarter section, township, and range description.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system of locator maps identifying the geographic areas of particular township and range quarter sections, identified with their corresponding Locality ID(trademark).
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided systems and methods for the parsing of street addresses for the purpose of identifying the precise geographic area identified by a particular Locality ID(trademark) in which the particular property identified by its street address, is situated.
According to the eight aspect of the present invention, there is provided systems and methods for the identification of all street addresses located in a particular geographic area identified by a particular Locality ID(trademark).
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided systems and methods for the identification of the geographic area identified by a particular Locality ID(trademark) in which a particular tax Assessor identified parcel is situated. And also to identify all tax Assessor identified parcels situated in a particular geographic area identified by a particular Locality ID(trademark).
According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided systems and methods for the identification of the geographic area identified by a particular Locality ID(trademark) in which particular Census Bureau, Census Blocks and Census Block Groups are situated. And also, to identify all Census Bureau, Census Blocks and Census Block Groups situated in a particular geographic area identified by a particular Locality ID(trademark).
According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided systems and methods to identify natural and manmade features, markers, monuments, landmarks, streets, and street intersections that form the perimeter of a particular geographic area identified by a particular Locality ID(trademark).
According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided systems and methods to identify the particular political entities in which a particular geographic area identified by a Locality ID(trademark) is situated.
According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided systems and methods to identify the particular U.S. Department Of The Interiorxe2x80x94Geological Survey Quadrangle Topographical Map Series, in which the particular geographic area identified by a particular Locality ID(trademark) is situated.
According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided systems and methods to identify the particular geographic area identified by a particular Locality ID(trademark) in which a point of interest (POI) is situated. The POI may, in fact, be a street or road, street address or a street intersection with city name and state, the name of a natural or manmade feature or landmark including business establishments, government facilities, and/or incidents/events of sorts (such as real estate transactions, crimes, etc.).
According to the fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided systems and methods for acquiring longitude and latitude coordinates for the boundaries of each quarter section identified by a Locality ID(trademark), which systems and methods may include the use of global position type systems (GPS).
While not designed to provide pinpoint accuracy (within a few meters), standard addresses identifying these places (quarter sections) can reduce or even eliminate the time spent searching maps and their indexes. The Locality ID(trademark) (coordinate addresses) will aid cognitive thinking, by supporting a mental image, relating to where things are in space through the repeated use of a fixed frame of reference. It would also be the foundation for linking diverse types of information from a geographical perspective by answering the question of what; which could aid decision making by public and private entities, as wells as at all levels of government. Township surveys identify real places as defined by monuments that are fixed in the Earth. These monuments or markers are permanent control points that have stood the test of time for over 200 years and will continue to play an important role in modern day society.
Specifically, as outlined in this invention, the integration of diverse types of geospatial data would be more easily accomplished through the use of a simple local (state level) grid coordinate system, of published static identifiers for each quarter section of land. Those skilled in the art will recognize the advantages of having predefined (X, Y) coordinates to identify quarter sections of land that are easily identified by a Locality ID(trademark). Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.